1959 - Miles Davis released Kind of Blue which is regarded by many critics as jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. As band member Bill Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes and chords before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous, filled with performances that still crackle with vitality. (Photo credit should read STF/AFP/GettyImages)
1964 - Glasgow city council in Scotland announced that all boys and men with Beatle styled haircuts would have to wear swimming caps after a committee was told that hair from "Beatle-cuts" was clogging the filters in public pools.
1969 - The legendary Woodstock music festival ended in upstate New York. Over 186,000 tickets had been sold but on the first day the flimsy fences and ticket barriers had come down. Organizers announced the concert would be a free event, prompting thousands more to head for the concert.
The final day's line up was: Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, Ten Years After, The Band, Johnny Winter, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, plus Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Sha Na Na, Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Jimi Hendrix took the in the wee hours, wrapping up the fest Monday morning.
1970 - Keyboardist and singer/songwriter Christine McVie of U.K. blues outfit Chicken Shack joined up with new husband John McVie in Fleetwood Mac.
1991 - Nirvana shoot their video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It is set to look like a deranged pep rally at "Anarchy High School," and features fans recruited at a concert two days earlier. The video is a huge hit on MTV and helps propel Nirvana into the mainstream.
Birthdays:
Kevin Rowland, frontman of Dexy's Midnight Runners, is 69.
Colin Moulding, XTC, is 67.
Belinda Carlisle is 64.
Maria McKee, Lone Justice, is 58.
Jill Cunniff of Luscious Jackson is 56.
Phoebe Bridgers is 28.
Elijah Hewson frontman for the Irish rock group Inhaler is 23.
Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from Woodstock Fandom, Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.